Joe Skalamera (right) with his sponsored daughter (left) and her SOS family in Vietnam.

Joe Skalamera, a Vietnam Veteran, who has sponsored a Vietnamese SOS child since 1999 was recently interviewed by Suzanne Gatto, Director of Household Marketing at SOS Children's Villages - USA. Mr. Skalamera sponsors a girl who is now 16 years old named Ly Hoang. He feels a spiritual bond with Ly Hoang, whom he refers to as "his daughter" and says, "I want to make sure that as long as I live, she is taken care of."

A transcript of the conversation between Ms. Gatto and Mr. Skalamera follows...

SOS: When did you serve in Vietnam?

Mr. Skalamera: I did 2 tours in Vietnam — July 10, 1966 to July 10, 1968. I was in the Air Force, but I spent 22 months attached to Army units. I was 19 years old when I was sent to Vietnam — just a kid.

SOS: What did the war mean to you?

Mr. Skalamera: All of our uncles and fathers were Veterans. They came back as heroes from fighting a war they knew needed to be fought. That's what we thought we were doing, but it just wasn't so. I was a soldier but I was a kid.

We've all grown old and you get wiser. You can't help to feel guilty about it all — guilty about the fact that we came back and our friends didn't. You never forget. I am 62 years old. I wish I could save the world. I wish I could save all these kids. But I can save a few — Ly Hoang, my SOS daughter, and a few others.

SOS: What does Memorial Day mean to you?

Mr. Skalamera: On Memorial Day, outside my house, I will hang my new American flag, POW flag, and yellow and black ribbons and keep them there until they fade. Some people don't understand why, but I do it because it could've been me. It's a memorial to Bobby Brulte killed on February 15, 1968, and Paul Worrell, and 22 guys from my high school in south Philadelphia who were killed. It is a day of reflection, some sadness and a day to give thanks.

SOS: What was it like during the war?

Mr. Skalamera: During the war, no matter how old you get, you just never forget a war — the sights, the smells. Eventually you can go on without a conscious memory, but an old song brings it back, brush fires in Florida bring back the smell...

During the war, you witness horrible things. Part of what really bothered me was what was happening to the children there. Seeing them dead was the worst thing — seeing them starving, forlorn. A lot were orphaned, many had been abandoned...

During the war in Phu Xuan, there was an orphanage where we helped kids cook and clean. The orphanage was run by a group of French nuns and is now run by Buddhist monks.

SOS: When did you first return to Vietnam?

Mr. Skalamera: My healing really started in 1999 when I went back to Vietnam. I went with a former soldier who started an organization called Hope for the Children of Vietnam — Peter Olivo. My deepest wounds came from the death of a dear friend who happened to be Peter's platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Robert F. Brulte.

Peter took me to where Lieutenant Brulte died and we had a memorial service there. God just touched my heart. I don't think anyone came back without the emotional wounds, but part of my emotional wounds came from the children.

When I came back in 1999 to heal myself, I wanted to visit the orphanage in Phu Xuan in the south, but I also wanted to go to an orphanage in the north to show that a former enemy had come back to serve those people who fought with us and also those people who fought against us. That's when I went to the SOS Village in Hanoi and met the director there. She asked me if I would sponsor a child, and so I did.

I have been a sponsor to Ly Hoang since then. I call her my daughter. Ly Hoang is 16 years old. I feel a spiritual bond with her. I'm going back to see her this year. She is getting older now, and I want to make sure she has what she needs. I want to make sure as long as I live she's taken care of.

SOS: What is Ly Hoang like?

Mr. Skalamera: Very intelligent, very tall, very talented, and she plays musical instruments. She started learning English and we have started to correspond through letters. I also correspond with her house mother.

SOS: What happened to Ly Hoang's parents?

Mr. Skalamera: Her mother died. Her father was poor and sickly and brought her to the orphanage. I've known two directors at the SOS Village. There was a wonderful woman there in 1999. It's part of my life there. For some reason, God keeps taking me back there.

Mr. Skalamera: The SOS Village is very different. The orphanage in the south is very poor. The kids live in open dormitories. They sleep on boards with a blanket. Sometimes they don’t have enough food. It reminds me of who won the war. At SOS, I know my daughter is getting a better life than she had before. I'm glad SOS has villages in both the north and the south.

SOS: What does sponsorship mean to you?

Mr. Skalamera: The starfish story illustrates what being a sponsor means. A beach was filled with miles and miles of starfish, and a man was picking them up and throwing them back into the ocean. Another man comes by and asks, "Why are you throwing back the starfish? You can't possibly make a difference." But the other man said, "Yes, but I can make a different to this one." Ly Hoang is my starfish.

I am the ninth of 10 kids of Croatian parents. A lot of people helped us, so I want to give back. The world is not evil because of evil people. The world is evil because of the people who just stand by and do not do anything to stop the evil.

SOS: When are you going back to Vietnam?

Mr. Skalamera: I am going back in the fall for two weeks with 22 others from Vets with a Mission, led by Chuck Ward — a spiritual man. These are doctors and former Vietnam Veterans who are medical missionaries. I'll take a break and fly over to visit my daughter at the SOS Children's Village in Hanoi.

SOS: What are your plans after you retire?

Mr. Skalamera: After I retire in a year in a half, I'm going to join Hope for the Children of Vietnam and probably stay in Vietnam six months of the year. Maybe we could partner with SOS Children's Villages in some way.

SOS: What would you say to other Vietnam Veterans who still haven't made peace with the war?

Mr. Skalamera: I recommend that other Vets to go back. I would encourage them to go back. The blood of our buddies enriched the earth there, and their spirits remain there. I don't know why I survived and they didn't, but God has been gracious to give me the opportunity to heal.

I can feel peace now through the work that I'm doing in Vietnam with SOS Children's Villages, Vets With a Mission, Hope for the Children of Vietnam and Sun In My Heart — all organizations that are helping children in Vietnam.

After the war I needed to understand the purpose of the war, but I couldn’t. I needed to create a purpose for myself, so it wasn't for not. I could not let my friends just die in vain.

I am honored and blessed to be a part of your wonderful organization. When I die I will leave something in my will for SOS.